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Girl Time

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Ask and you shall receive

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About Thanksgiving, I shifted my prayer focus. I was really convicted that I pray a lot, but don’t focus enough on prayers for my own family. I also felt like God specifically told me to ask Tim what he wanted me to pray about.

The first thing he asked me to pray for was a job that he loves in a location that we will all enjoy. About a week later, he found out that they were planning to send him TDY to Hawaii for a week. Though we did not originally plan to visit Hawaii on our tour in Korea, we decided that Clarissa and I should join him for his trip.

We usually take a taxi to the bus station and then take the airport limousine bus to the Gimhae Airport in Busan. But it can be very frustrating because the taxis can usually only fit one suitcase in the trunk so we end up with the stroller in the front seat and a suitcase squished in the back seat with the three of us in the back. We thought we would try driving this time and just leave the car at the airport.

Saturday morning at breakfast, I specifically prayed that we would have a good travel day and make our flights. We left a little later than we wanted to, but weren’t worried. We would arrive to the airport about 12:30 which would still give us time to check in to our flight, grab lunch, and go through security.

When we arrived at the long term parking lot, the attendant wouldn’t let us in. The lot was full. So we drove past the domestic parking lot which had a long line. We then found the international parking lot and waited in line for 45 minutes before we could get in to the parking lot.

We then had to drag 3 suitcases, a stroller, car seat, and Clarissa through the parking lot and airport to check in. When we got to the check in counters, there was not a sign for our airline. I looked at the board and saw that Korean Air had a flight to Tokyo the same time as ours so we decided to go there.

The attendant said that we were in the wrong place, told us where to go, and sent someone from Japan Airlines to help us. Two very frazzled ladies came to check us in at 135 for our 205 flight. They were very nice and said that if we ran, we could make it. Thankfully, there was not a line at security or immigration and we made it to the gate as they were finishing the boarding process.

As we were boarding the plane, I remembered that I had specifically prayed that we would make our flight. We don’t usually miss our flights so that was an interesting thing for me to ask for. But God totally delivered. There was definitely an hour where we were frustrated and stressed. And we thought we would never drive to the airport again. But the customer service was great and we made it. We may drive again, we just need to leave earlier.

On the breezeway, Clarissa started crying and said that she was afraid to fly and didn’t want to get on the plane. We thought that was strange since she usually loves vacation. But once we got her settled in to her seat and started a movie, she was happy. They even brought her a present. She picked out a letter A with a propeller.

As usual, Japan Airlines food did not disappoint. They served a wonderful lunch with eel, crab, fruit, and ongeri. Plus there was yogurt, mochi, and a chocolate.

We had almost three hours in the Narita airport. We walked through a few stores. Then Tim grabbed some food while Clarissa and I headed to the playground.

This time, Clarissa was very excited to board the plane. She immediately wanted to wear her new pink slippers and get her movie started.

We were all pretty tired by the time we boarded the plane for our 655 flight. I was hopeful that we would all get some sleep. We almost did until they turned on the lights for dinner.

But by the time they turned them back off, we had all caught a second wind. Clarissa actually lasted until the last 30 minutes of the flight before she fell asleep. It doesn’t seem like a huge deal for a 6.5 hour flight until you consider that we landed about 630am Hawaii time and 130 am Korea time.

Since Clarissa was asleep, I had to carry her through customs and immigration. I was never so excited to see a stroller than when we arrived in baggage claim. (The only time I didn’t gate check my stroller was the first trip she refused to walk through the airport. Usually she walks and/or runs and we push an empty stroller.)

After picking up our rental car, we decided to head to Walmart since we had several hours before we could check in to our hotel. The only problem was that we didn’t have a GPS and we still needed to buy sim cards for our phones. So we followed signs for Waikiki and eventually stopped to ask for directions.

There was a Starbucks attached to Walmart. We pushed a sleeping Clarissa in her stroller. Tim got his usual chai tea latte and I ordered a pumpkin spice latte, which I ended up dumping down the drain in Walmart. I don’t know why I didn’t know that a latte contains coffee? I thought it would taste like pumpkin…

Walmart was pleasant. It was nice to be able to find things that I needed at a good price in sizes that I understand for a change.

The Ala Moana Center is a large mall near Walmart and we headed there about the time they opened at 930. We went to t-mobile to buy sim cards for our phones. It was hilarious because in Korea, Tim’s phone is superior to mine. But my phone was quick to accept the new sim card. Tim and our t-mobile lady had to mess with his for over 30 minutes to work and even now, mine is better.

The mall was very nice and open. The shops were connected over four levels. The walkways were outside so there was a nice breeze. We were too tired to visit everything we wanted, so we will probably go back another day this week.

Clarissa slept through the entire shopping excursion until I put her in her car seat for the hotel l. At that point she had been asleep for 6 hours so she was set.

We checked into Hale Koa and set up our room. Then Clarissa and I left to eat lunch and explore while Tim rested and took a shower. There are three pools, a garden, playground, and a beach. We have so many things we can do without leaving the hotel grounds.

After we returned, we showered and spent some time planning our Sunday. We were all in bed by 6pm. Jetlag…